Toohey: Napier showed he was the best player on the court

By
Terry Toohey, Delaware County Daily Times

Sunday, March 23, 2014

BUFFALO — There was no stopping Shabazz Napier Saturday night.

Two first-half fouls that forced him to sit on the bench for 12 minutes could not slow down the senior guard, nor could an accidental kick to the shin that sent him to the sideline for another two minutes in the second half of Connecticut’s 77-65 triumph over Villanova in the third round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Nothing was going to prevent Napier from leading the seventh-seeded Huskies to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011, which also happens to be the last time UConn won the national title.

The Huskies closed out that championship run with 11 straight wins, five in the Big East Tournament and six in the big dance, because they had the best player every time they stepped on the floor in guard Kemba Walker. Walker averaged 23.8 points, six rebounds and 5.7 assists during in the NCAA Tournament.

UConn (28-8) ended one of the best seasons in Villanova history because it had the best player on the floor in Napier, and the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and sure-fire All-American, played like it.

Napier led all scorers with 25 points. He also grabbed five rebounds and handed out three assists, which gave him a two-game total eerily similar to the numbers Walker posted in his first two NCAA Tournament games in 2011. Walker averaged 25.5 points, seven rebounds and 8.5 assists in the first two games of the NCAA Tournament. Napier heads to the East Regional in New York averaging 24.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists after two NCAA Tournament games.

“He made some outstanding plays,” Villanova senior James Bell said. “He’s an outstanding player and he put (his team) in a great position.

“Do I feel like we could have done more? Maybe a little more pressure on the ball, but he was making god plays. He was shooting outside of what we call the scoring area. He’s an outstanding player that made outstanding plays.”

Napier was at his best in the second half. He tallied 21 of his points in the second half as the Huskies outscored the Wildcats (29-5), 52-41

It was the third time this season the Wildcats surrendered 50 points or more in a half. Care to venture a guess of what Villanova’s record is in those games?

If you said 0-3, you get to do a do-over in Warren Buffet’s billion dollar pool challenge.

Napier was brilliant. He buried threes, hit a ridiculous up-and-under shot under pressure and still found time to hand out three assists in just 25 minutes. Every minute, though, was quality.

Villanova had a 16-9 lead when Napier picked up his second personal foul with 12:09 left in the first half and headed to the bench. That advantage grew to 19-9 before the Huskies rebounded and fought back to take a 25-24 lead at the break with their leader on the sideline.

Credit guard Ryan Boatright for keeping the Huskies together while their best player was relegated to spectator.

“I just told the guys that we had to come together,” Boatright said. “We had to take care of the ball and play good defense to get to the second half so we could get Shabazz back.”

Napier rewarded his teammates with a 3 minute, 37 second stretch in which he hit three consecutive three-pointers to extend UConn’s lead from 45-40 to 54-45. Villanova did get within 68-63 with 57 seconds to play, but could not recover from Napier’s barrage from beyond the arc.

“It created a separation,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “In a game like this, that was that close, that separation was tough to make up. I think that was probably the story of the game, their defense and that period where Napier hit three deep threes.”

It was a back-breaking sequence, one from which the Wildcats never recovered.

“That’s what great players do and that’s what he is,” Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono said. “He took over when his team needed him. That’s why I think he’s a first-team All-American. He’s a great player.”